Bone



Feb. 17, 1948. J. J. BlRL 2,436,283

BONE

Filed June 14, 1945 2 2 j a INVENTOR iw rwmfw A TTORNE Y.

Patented Feb. 17, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BONE Joseph J. Birl, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application June 14, 1945, Serial No. 599,411 3 Claims. (01. 46-191) This invention relates to bones or clappers, a pair of which are held between the fingers of a player to produce, when shaken, rhythmic sounds. A pair is played either alone or with other musical instruments.

In devices of this character as heretofore made, the grasping portion had a smooth unbroken surface and there was a tendency for them to slip between the fingers of a player. This made it difiicult to control the relative position of the bones and to retain them in varied relative positions to produce different rhythmic sounds by causing one bone to contact different portions of the other bone.

The purpose, therefore, of this invention is to construct the bones in a novel manner so that they can be retained between the fingers without slipping and are easier to play to produce variations and modulations in rhythmic sounds.

With the foregoing and other objects in view as will hereinafter clearly appear, my invention comprehends a novel construction of a bone.

It further comprehends a novel bone having a shoulder above its grasping portion to prevent slipping, and in some cases having a grasping portion of reduced thickness.

In the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments are shown which I have found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, but these embodiments are typical only.

Figure l is a side elevation of a pair of bones in spaced relation as they would appear when held in the hand of a player.

Figure 2 is an elevation of a bone, showing the inner face thereof.

Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of another embodiment of my invention.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings:

Each one of a pair of bones is of the same construction. The bones are preferably made of a hard material, and may be straight or curved as may be desired.

l designates a bone embodying my invention, and which as shown in Figures 1 and 2 has a recess 2 in its inner face near its upper end, there by forming a shoulder 3. The recess at its lower end curves outwardly to merge with the inner face of the bone. The shoulder 3 engages the top portion of the finger positioned between the bones when they are held in the hand in playing position, and prevents relative downward movement of a bone with respect to the fingers of the player. The marginal portions of the recess preferably have a slight curvature towards the edges of the bone, see Figure 4. The recess 2 provides a grasping portion of reduced thickness which is offcenter from the median line of the bone. It will of course be apparent that the recess and shoulder can be formed on both sides of the bone if desired or on either side, but I prefer to have the recess on the inner face of the bone.

The broad feature of the invention is having a shoulder above the grasping portion at the upper end of the bone to prevent the bone slipping out of position between the fingers when playing, and I prefer to employ a recess which will cause the bone to be of reduced thickness at the grasping portion.

The shoulder and recess can be provided on both sides of the bone near the upper end as shown in Figure 5. This materially reduces the thickness of the bone at the grasping portion which is held between juxtaposed fingers during the playing operation.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that bones constructed as herein disclosed will be easier on the fingers, can be more accurately controlled, and are easier to play to produce varied rhythmic sounds than those heretofore employed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bone flattened longitudinally along a portion of one face to reduce the thickness at the grasping portion, said recess forming a shoulder near the upper end of the bone.

2. A bone flattened longitudinally at portions of opposite sides of the bone to reduce the thickness of the grasping portion to be held between the fingers, said recesses forming shoulders near the upper end of the bone.

3. A bone oval in crosssection having one side cut away near one end to form a longitudinally extending recess merging at its lower end into the face of the bone, the recess being of greater length than a width of a finger and forming a shoulder at the upper end to overhang one of the fingers between which the bone is held during the playing operation.

JOSEPH J. BIRL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 237,850 y Fisher Feb. 15, 1881 1,121,189 Lincoln Dec. 15, 1914 1,168,843 Baker Jan. 18, 1916 1,982,888 Tsukamoto Dec. 4, 1934 

